Zee Entertainment Shares Plunge 33%, Mcap Falls by Rs 7,300 Crore

New Delhi, Jan 23 (PTI) Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) nosedived up to 33 per cent on Tuesday after Sony called off the proposed USD 10 billion merger of its India unit with the media group.

The market capitalisation of the company, which witnessed heavy selling pressure since morning, tumbled by Rs 7,285.53 crore to Rs 14,974.50 crore on the BSE.

Shares of ZEEL tanked 32.73 per cent to close at Rs 155.90 apiece on the BSE.

On the NSE, the company' shares plunged 30.47 per cent to settle at Rs 160.90 per share.

During the day, the scrip of ZEEL also touched its 52-week low of Rs 152.50 apiece on both BSE and NSE.

The stock also touched its lower price band on both the bourses, which also revised the lower circuit limit for the company on Tuesday.

In volume terms, nearly 1.46 crore equity shares were traded on the BSE while 22.84 crore shares were traded on the NSE, during the day.

The equity market witnessed heavy volatility during the day as the benchmark index Sensex after gaining more than 500 points in early trade, crashed over 1,000 points in the late session to close in the negative territory.

Sensex tumbled 1,053 points to close below the 71,000-level on Tuesday.

On Monday, Culver Max Entertainment, formerly known as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI), terminated merger agreements with Zee Entertainment, which could have otherwise created a USD 10 billion media enterprise in the country.

Besides, Sony has sought USD 90 million as break-up fees for violating the terms of the merger pact and "invoking arbitration", which ZEEL said it will contest legally.